A substrate processing apparatus includes a transfer chamber row of transfer chambers arranged linearly, a processing chamber row of processing chambers arranged on one side or both sides of the transfer chamber row, a driving mechanism for rotating/extending/contracting a transfer arm of a substrate transfer mechanism in each transfer chamber, and a controller. A center of a substrate supporting region in the processing chamber is positioned closer to the transfer chamber row than a line connecting a rotation axis of the transfer arm and a center of a gate valve. Further, when loading and unloading a substrate between the processing chamber and the adjacent transfer chamber, the controller controls the driving mechanism such that a center of the substrate held by the transfer arm passes along an outer side of a line that connects a rotation axis of the transfer arm and a center of a substrate supporting region.
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7. A substrate transfer method for transferring a substrate in a substrate processing apparatus for processing the substrate, wherein the substrate processing apparatus includes a transfer chamber row of a plurality of transfer chambers arranged linearly and maintained in a vacuum atmosphere, each of the transfer chambers having therein the substrate transfer mechanism configured to hold and transfer a substrate using a rotatable and extensible/contractible transfer arm; and a processing chamber row of a plurality of processing chambers maintained in a vacuum atmosphere and arranged on one side or both sides of the transfer chamber row along the transfer chamber row in a plan view, each of the processing chambers having therein a substrate supporting region on which the substrate is placed,
the substrate transfer method comprising:
for a processing chamber connected to two transfer chambers adjacent to the processing chamber through gate valves, transferring the substrate such that when loading and unloading the substrate between the processing chamber and each of the two transfer chambers adjacent to the processing chamber, a center of the substrate held by the transfer arm of each of the two transfer chambers passes along an outer side of a line that connects a rotation axis of the transfer arm and a center of the substrate supporting region in the processing chamber.
1. A substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate, comprising:
a transfer chamber row of a plurality of transfer chambers arranged linearly and maintained in a vacuum atmosphere, each of the transfer chambers having therein a substrate transfer mechanism configured to hold and transfer the substrate using a rotatable and extensible/contractible transfer arm;
a processing chamber row of a plurality of processing chambers maintained in a vacuum atmosphere and arranged on one side or both sides of the transfer chamber row along the transfer chamber row in a plan view, each of the processing chambers having therein a substrate supporting region on which the substrate is placed;
a driving mechanism configured to rotate, extend, and contract the transfer arm; and
a controller,
wherein, for a processing chamber connected to two transfer chambers adjacent thereto through gate valves, a center of the substrate supporting region in the processing chamber is positioned closer to the transfer chamber row such that lines connecting the center of the substrate supporting region with rotation axes of transfer arms in the two transfer chambers adjacent to the processing chamber are closer to the transfer chamber row than lines respectively connecting the rotation axes of transfer arms in the two transfer chambers with centers of the gate valves with respect to the two transfer chambers, and
the controller is configured to control, when loading and unloading the substrate between the processing chamber and each of the two transfer chambers adjacent to the processing chamber, the driving mechanism such that a center of the substrate held by the transfer arm of each of the two transfer chambers passes along an outer side of a line that connects the rotation axis of the transfer arm and the center of the substrate supporting region in the processing chamber.
2. The substrate processing apparatus of
initially transfer the substrate held by the transfer arm of the corresponding transfer chamber along the line that connects the rotation axis of the transfer arm and the center of the gate valve with respect to the corresponding transfer chamber until the substrate passes through the gate valve,
then rotate the transfer arm, and
thereafter transfer the substrate held by the transfer arm along the line that connects the rotation axis of the transfer arm and the center of the substrate supporting region in the processing chamber that is a transfer destination.
3. The substrate processing apparatus of
4. The substrate processing apparatus of
6. The substrate processing apparatus of
8. The substrate transfer method of
loading the substrate from each of the two transfer chambers into the processing chamber adjacent to the two transfer chambers,
wherein said loading includes:
initially transferring the substrate held by the transfer arm of the corresponding transfer chamber along the line that connects the rotation axis of the transfer arm and the center of the gate valve with respect to the corresponding transfer chamber until the substrate passes through the gate valve;
then rotating the transfer arm; and
thereafter transferring the substrate held by the transfer arm along the line that connects the rotation axis of the transfer arm and the center of the substrate supporting region in the processing chamber that is a transfer destination.
9. The substrate transfer method of
loading the substrate from each of the two transfer chambers into the processing chamber adjacent to the two transfer chambers;
wherein said loading includes:
linearly transferring the substrate held by the transfer arm of the corresponding transfer chamber to a predestined position in the corresponding transfer chamber; and
then rotating and extending the transfer arm to transfer the substrate to the center of the substrate supporting region in the processing chamber that is a transfer destination.
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This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-138914, filed on Jul. 29, 2019, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present disclosure relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate transfer method.
International patent application publication No. WO2014/006804 discloses a substrate processing apparatus in which multiple processing modules are sequentially used to perform a series of processes on a substrate in a vacuum atmosphere. In the substrate processing apparatus, a row of substrate transfer devices is provided in a transfer chamber maintained in a vacuum atmosphere. Each of the substrate transfer devices is configured to be rotatable horizontally and movable back and forth, and the substrate is delivered between the substrate transfer devices adjacent to each other in the transfer chamber. Further, rows of processing modules are arranged along the row of the substrate transfer devices at right and left sides, each of the processing modules performing a process to the substrate. The processing modules include a processing module, having a sidewall at a side of the row of the substrate transfer devices protruded toward a space between the adjacent substrate transfer devices, configured to deliver the substrate with respect to any one of the substrate transfer devices at a front side in an inclination direction of the sidewall and a rear side in the inclination direction of the sidewall.
The present disclosure provides a technique for preventing a scaling up of a substrate processing apparatus having a transfer chamber row with a plurality of transfer chambers arranged linearly and a processing chamber row with a plurality of processing chambers arranged along the transfer chamber row, or a technique for scaling down the substrate processing apparatus.
In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate including: a transfer chamber row of a plurality of transfer chambers arranged linearly and maintained in a vacuum atmosphere, each of the transfer chambers having therein a substrate transfer mechanism configured to hold and transfer the substrate using a rotatable and extensible/contractible transfer arm; a processing chamber row of a plurality of processing chambers maintained in a vacuum atmosphere and arranged on one side or both sides of the transfer chamber row along the transfer chamber row in a plan view, each of the processing chambers having therein a substrate supporting region on which the substrate is placed; a driving mechanism configured to rotate, extend, and contract the transfer arm; and a controller. Further, for a processing chamber connected to two transfer chambers adjacent thereto through gate valves, a center of the substrate supporting region in the processing chamber is positioned closer to the transfer chamber row such that lines connecting the center of the substrate supporting region with rotation axes of transfer arms in the two transfer chambers adjacent to the processing chamber are closer to the transfer chamber row than lines respectively connecting the rotation axes of transfer arms in the two transfer chambers with centers of the gate valves with respect to the two transfer chambers, and the controller is configured to control, when loading and unloading the substrate between the processing chamber and each of the two transfer chambers adjacent to the processing chamber, the driving mechanism such that a center of the substrate held by the transfer arm of each of the two transfer chambers passes along an outer side of a line that connects the rotation axis of the transfer arm and the center of the substrate supporting region in the processing chamber.
The objects and features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of embodiments, given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
In a semiconductor device manufacturing process, various processes such as film formation and the like are performed on a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as “wafer”) in individual vacuum processing chambers. The film formation and the like are performed on one substrate multiple times, if necessary. Therefore, in order to improve throughput, a substrate processing apparatus for consecutively performing various processes without exposing a substrate to the atmosphere is provided, and the substrate processing apparatus is configured by connecting processing chambers for performing different processes or the same processes through a transfer chamber for transferring a substrate under a vacuum atmosphere. In such a substrate processing apparatus, the substrate is linearly loaded and unloaded between each processing chamber and the transfer chamber.
As the above-described substrate processing apparatus, there is considered an apparatus having a row of transfer chambers linearly arranged and a row of processing chambers arranged along the row of the transfer chambers. In such a substrate processing apparatus, as shown in
Further, in the above-described substrate processing apparatus having the row of the transfer chambers and the row of the processing chambers, it is considered to provide functional chambers such as relay chambers between the adjacent transfer chambers of the row of the transfer chambers. Each relay chamber allows the substrate to be transferred between the adjacent transfer chambers without passing through the processing chamber. In the case of providing the functional chambers, the length of the row of the transfer chambers in an arrangement direction of the transfer chambers is increased. In this case, in order to locate the substrate support 610 at a position indicated by a solid line in
Further, the substrate processing apparatus can be scaled down by moving the substrate support 610 in the processing chamber 600 of the row of the processing chambers to an inner side in the width direction to be close to the row of the transfer chambers, i.e., to a position indicated by the dashed double-dotted line in
Therefore, the present disclosure provides a technique for preventing a scale-up of the substrate processing apparatus having the row of the transfer chambers disposed linearly and the row of the processing chambers disposed along the row of the transfer chamber or scaling down the substrate processing apparatus.
Hereinafter, a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate transfer method according to embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In this specification, like reference numerals will be given to like parts having substantially the same functions and redundant description thereof will be omitted.
The substrate processing apparatus 1 has a configuration in which a cassette station 10 for loading and unloading a cassette C capable of accommodating a plurality of wafers W and a processing station 11 including multiple processing chambers each of which performs film formation on the wafers W are integrally connected. The cassette station 10 and the processing station 11 are connected through a load-lock chamber 12. The load-lock chamber 12 connects an atmospheric pressure transfer module 21 and a vacuum transfer module 30 to be described later. An inner atmosphere of the load-lock chamber 12 can be switched between an atmospheric pressure state and a vacuum state.
The cassette station 10 includes a cassette mounting table 20 and an atmospheric pressure transfer module 21. The cassette station 10 may further include an orienter (not shown) for adjusting the orientation of the wafer W.
The cassette mounting table 20 is disposed at one end of the substrate processing apparatus 1 on the negative side of the Y direction (bottom side in
The atmospheric pressure transfer module 21 transfers the wafer W under an atmospheric pressure state by a wafer transfer mechanism (not shown). The wafer transfer mechanism includes a transfer arm for holding the wafer W substantially horizontally. The transfer arm is configured to be rotatable, extensible and contractible in a horizontal direction and movable in a vertical direction. Further, the wafer transfer mechanism is configured to transfer the wafer W while holding the wafer W by the transfer arm.
The load-lock chamber 12 is connected to the atmospheric pressure transfer module 21 on the positive side of the Y direction (upper side in
The processing station 11 includes the vacuum transfer module 30 and a plurality (six in this example) of processing chambers 421 to 426 (hereinafter, may be collectively referred to as “processing chamber 42”). The inner atmosphere of each of the vacuum transfer module 30 and the processing chamber 42 are maintained in an atmosphere (vacuum atmosphere) lower than atmospheric pressure during a series of processes performed on the wafer W in the substrate processing apparatus 1.
The vacuum transfer module 30 includes a transfer chamber row 31. The transfer chamber row 31 includes a plurality (three in this example) transfer chambers 321 to 323 (hereinafter, may be collectively referred to as “transfer chamber 32”). The transfer chambers 321 to 323 are arranged linearly along the Y direction in
Each of the transfer chamber 32 and the relay chamber 33 has a hermetically sealed housing formed in a substantially polygonal shape in a plan view. The vacuum transfer module 30 has a housing formed by integrating the hermetically sealed housings.
A first processing chamber row 40 is disposed on one side of the transfer chamber row 31 in a plan view, specifically, at the outer side of the negative side of the X direction (left side in
A second process chamber row 41 is disposed on the other side of the transfer chamber row 31 in a plan view, specifically, at the outer side of the positive direction of the X direction (right side in
The gate valves G11 to G20 are arranged at an angle of, e.g., 60° with respect to the Y direction (the vertical direction in
In this example, the processing chamber rows are disposed on both sides of the transfer chamber row 31 in a plan view. However, the processing chamber row may be disposed only one of both sides of the transfer chamber row 31 in a plan view.
Each of the transfer chambers 32 arranged as described above allows a wafer W unloaded from a module (the processing chamber 42, the relay chamber 33, or the load-lock chamber 12) adjacent to the corresponding transfer chamber 32 to be transferred to another module adjacent to the corresponding transfer chamber 32.
Therefore, a wafer transfer mechanism 50 serving as a substrate transfer mechanism for holding and transferring the wafer W is disposed in each of the transfer chambers 32.
As shown in
The base 51 has, e.g., a disc shape, and is connected to a rotation motor (RM) 53a of the driving mechanism 53 for rotating or revolving the base 51 about the central axis (vertical axis) thereof.
The transfer arm 52 is, e.g., a SCARA-type multi joint arm as shown in
More specifically, a base end of a lower link 52a is attached to the base 51 through a rotation shaft 52d to be rotatable on the horizontal plane. Further, a base end of an upper link 52b is attached to a leading end of the link 52a through a rotation shaft 52e to be rotatable on the horizontal plane. A base end of the end effector 52c configured as tweezers capable of supporting and holding a wafer W thereon is attached to a leading end of the link 52b through a rotation shaft 52f to be rotatable on the horizontal plane.
The links 52a and 52b have therein a transmission mechanism (not shown) for transmitting a driving force generated by an extension/contraction motor (ECM) 53b of the driving mechanism 53 to the links 52a and 52b or the end effector 52c. The transmission mechanism includes, e.g., a pulley, a belt, a speed reducer, or the like. In the illustrated example, the links 52a and 52b and the end effector 52c are configured to rotate together about the rotation shaft 52d at the base end of the link 52a so that the end effector 52c moves linearly in the longitudinal direction thereof.
The above-described transfer arm 52 is configured to be rotatable since the transfer arm 52 rotates together with the base 51, and thus also can be extended and contracted in a desired direction.
In the following description, the wafer transfer mechanism 50n, the base 51n, and the transfer arm 52n (n=1, 2, 3, 4) denote the wafer transfer mechanism 50 disposed in the transfer chamber 32n, and the base 51 and the transfer arm 52 of the wafer transfer mechanism 50.
Referring back to
The processing chamber 42 performs film formation such as physical vapor deposition (PVD) or the like on the wafer W. A substrate support 43 having a wafer supporting region 43a as a substrate supporting region on which the wafer W is horizontally mounted is disposed in the processing chamber 42. An electrostatic chuck is disposed on the substrate support 43, if necessary. Further, the substrate support 43 has a flow path for a temperature control medium or a heating plate as a temperature control mechanism (not shown) for controlling a temperature of the wafer W mounted on the substrate support 43 to a desired temperature by controlling a temperature of the substrate support 43 to a desired temperature.
Different types of films may be formed in the respective processing chambers 421 to 426, or the same film may be formed in a part of the processing chambers 42. In the following description, it is assumed that different types of films are formed in the respective processing chambers 421 to 426.
The substrate processing apparatus 1 configured as describe above includes a controller (CNT) 60. The controller 60 is, e.g., a computer having a CPU, a memory, and the like, and includes a program storage unit (not shown). The program storage unit stores programs and the like for controlling the driving mechanism 53 or the like to implement a wafer processing to be described later in the substrate processing apparatus 1. Further, the programs may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium and installed in the controller 60 from the storage medium. Further, a part or all of the programs may be realized by a dedicated hardware (circuit board).
Next, the wafer processing using the substrate processing apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described.
First, the cassette C containing a plurality of wafers W is loaded into the cassette station 10 of the substrate processing apparatus 1 and mounted on the cassette mounting table 20. Then, a wafer transfer mechanism (not shown) of the atmospheric pressure transfer module 21 extracts one wafer W from the cassette C. The gate valve G1 is opened and the wafer W is loaded into the load-lock chamber 12. When the wafer W is loaded into the load-lock chamber 12, the gate valve G1 is closed and the load-lock chamber 12 is sealed and depressurized. Thereafter, the gate valve G2 is opened, and the load-lock chamber 12 and the transfer chamber 321 maintained in the vacuum atmosphere communicate with each other. Then, the wafer W is unloaded from the load-lock chamber 12 and loaded into the transfer chamber 321 by a transfer arm 521 of a wafer transfer mechanism 501.
Next, the gate valve G2 is closed and the gate valve G11 is opened, so that the transfer chamber 321 and the processing chamber 421 communicate with each other. Then, the wafer W is loaded into the processing chamber 421 and placed on the substrate support 43 by the transfer arm 521 of the wafer transfer mechanism 501. The method of loading the wafer W into the processing chamber 42 will be described later.
A degas chamber (not shown) for heating and degassing the wafer W may be provided in the transfer chamber 321 so that the degas process can be performed on the wafer W in the degas chamber before the loading of the wafer W into the processing chamber 421.
After the wafer W is placed on the substrate support 43, the gate valve G11 is closed and the processing chamber 421 is sealed. Then, film formation is performed on the wafer W in the processing chamber 421. Accordingly, a desired film is formed on the wafer W.
When the processing in the processing chamber 421 is completed, the gate valve G12 is opened, and the processing chamber 421 and the transfer chamber 322 communicate with each other. Then, the wafer W is unloaded from the processing chamber 421 and loaded into the transfer chamber 322 by a transfer arm 522 of a wafer transfer mechanism 502.
Thereafter, the gate valves G12 to G20 and G2 and/or the transfer arms 522 to 524 are driven in the above-described manner, and the wafer W is loaded and unloaded between the transfer chambers 32 and the processing chambers 42 in the following order of the processing chamber 421→the transfer chamber 323→the processing chamber 423→the transfer chamber 323→the processing chamber 424→the transfer chamber 323→the processing chamber 425→the transfer chamber 322→the processing chamber 426→the transfer chamber 321→the load-lock chamber 12.
Then, a desired film is formed on the wafer W in each of the processing chambers 421 to 426.
The wafer W returned to the load-lock chamber 12 is returned to the original cassette C in the reverse order of the operation of loading the wafer W from the cassette C.
The above-described wafer processing is performed on each wafer W.
Next, the position of the substrate support 43 in the processing chamber 42 will be described with reference to
Referring to
A line L2 connects a rotation axis of the transfer arm 522 of the other transfer chamber 322 adjacent to the processing chamber 421, i.e., a rotation center P3 of the base 512, and a center P4 of the gate valve G12 with respect to the transfer chamber 322.
A line L11 connects a center P5 of the wafer supporting region 43a of the substrate support 43 in the processing chamber 421 and the rotation center P1 of the base 511, i.e., the rotation axis of the transfer arm 521.
A line L12 connects the center P5 of the wafer supporting region 43a of the substrate support 43 in the processing chamber 421 and the rotation center P3 of the base 512, i.e., the rotation axis of the transfer arm 522.
In the processing chamber 421, the substrate support 43 is disposed in such a manner that the center P5 of the wafer supporting region 43a is positioned closer to the transfer chamber row 31 such that the lines L11 and L12 are closer to the transfer chamber row 31 than the lines L1 and L2. In other words, in the processing chamber 421, the substrate support 43 is disposed such that the position of the center P5 of the wafer supporting region 43a is closer to the transfer chamber row 31 than the position of an intersection point Q1 of the lines L1 and L2. The above configuration allows the reduction of the footprint area of the substrate processing apparatus 1 compared to the case where the substrate support 43 is disposed such that the center P5 of the wafer supporting region 43a is positioned to coincide with the intersection point Q1.
Although it is not illustrated, the substrate support 43 is disposed in each of the processing chambers 422, 425 and 426, similar to that in the processing chamber 421.
Unlike the processing chamber 421, the processing chambers 423 and 424 are adjacent to only one transfer chamber 323 without being adjacent to two transfer chambers 32. However, the position of the substrate support 43 in each of the processing chambers 423 and 424 is closer to the transfer chamber row 31, similar to that in the processing chamber 421.
Similarly, when the substrate support 43 is disposed in the processing chamber 421 such that the position of the center P5 of the wafer supporting region 43a is closer to the transfer chamber row 31 than the position of the intersection point Q1, the following problems occur. In other words, when the wafer W is loaded and unloaded between the processing chamber 421 and the transfer chamber 321, if the wafer W held by the transfer arm 521 is transferred linearly along the line L11 as in the conventional case, the wafer W may collide with the gate valve G11 or the like and fall from the transfer arm 521.
Therefore, in the substrate processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, when loading and unloading the wafer W between the processing chamber 421 and the transfer chamber 321, the driving mechanism 53 is controlled to transfer the wafer W non-linearly, i.e., in a curved manner at the outer side of the line L11. Specifically, the driving mechanism 53 is controlled such that both of the rotation and the extension of the transfer arm 521 are performed and the center of the wafer W held by the transfer arm 521 passes along the outer side of the line L11. More specifically, the driving mechanism 53 is controlled such that both of the rotation and the extension of the transfer arm 521 are performed and the center of the wafer W held by the transfer arm 521 passes along the outer side of the line L11 while satisfying the following conditions (A) and (B):
(A) The wafer W that is being transferred does not collide with an obstacle disposed at an inner side of the apparatus width direction from the line L11 (e.g., an inner wall portion of the gate valve G11 that is disposed at the inner side of the apparatus width direction from the line L11, i.e., the positive side of the X direction),
(B) The wafer W that is being transferred does not collide with an obstacle disposed at an outer side of the apparatus width direction from the line L11 (e.g., an inner wall portion of the gate valve G11 that is disposed at the outer side of the apparatus width direction from the line L11, i.e., the negative side of the X direction).
In this transfer method, first, the controller 60 controls the extension/contraction motor 53b (see
Next, the rotation motor 53a (see
Then, the extension/contraction motor 53b (see
Then, the wafer W is transferred from the transfer arm 521 to the substrate support 43.
Since the wafer W is transferred as described above, the wafer W does not fall from the transfer arm 521 during the loading of the wafer W into the processing chamber 421 from the transfer chamber 321.
Further, when the transfer arm 521 that is not holding the wafer W is retreated from the processing chamber 421 upon completion of the loading of the wafer W, the rotation motor 53a and the extension/contraction motor 53b are controlled such that the transfer arm 521 moves along a reverse path of the path described with reference to
Further, when unloading the wafer W from the processing chamber 421 to the transfer chamber 321, the rotation motor 53a and the extension/contraction motor 53b are controlled such that the transfer arm 521 holding the wafer W moves along the reverse path of the path described with reference to
In the case of loading and unloading the wafer W between the other processing chambers 42 and the other transfer chambers 32, the rotation motor 53a and the extension/contraction motor 53b are controlled in the above-described manner.
As described above, in the present embodiment, the substrate processing apparatus 1 for processing the wafer W includes: the transfer chamber row 31 having the plurality of transfer chambers 32 arranged linearly and maintained in a vacuum atmosphere, each of the transfer chambers 32 having therein the wafer transfer mechanism 50 for holding and transferring the wafer W using the rotatable, extensible and contractible transfer arm 52; the processing chamber rows 40 and 41 arranged on both sides of the transfer chamber row 31 along the transfer chamber row 31 in a plan view, each of the processing chamber rows 40 and 41 having the plurality of processing chambers 42 each of which is maintained in a vacuum atmosphere and has therein the wafer supporting region 43a on which the wafer W is placed; the driving mechanism 53 for driving the rotation and extension/contraction of the transfer arm 52; and the controller 60. In the substrate processing apparatus 1, the processing chamber 42 is connected to two transfer chambers 32 adjacent to the processing chamber 42 through gate valves (e.g., the gate valves G11 and G12). Further, the center of the wafer supporting region 43a in the processing chamber 42 is positioned closer to the transfer chamber row 31 such that the lines (e.g. the lines L11 and L12) connecting the center of the wafer supporting region 43a with the rotation axes of the transfer arms 52 of the two transfer chambers 32 adjacent to the processing chamber 42 are closer to the transfer chamber row 31 than the lines (e.g., the lines L1 and L2) respectively connecting the rotation axes of the transfer arms 52 of the two transfer chambers 32 adjacent to the processing chamber 42 with the centers of the gate valves with respect to the transfer chambers 32. Therefore, even when the transfer chamber row 31 has the relay chamber 33 between the adjacent transfer chambers 32, it is possible to prevent the substrate processing apparatus 1 from being scaled up in the apparatus width direction, which makes it possible to prevent the scaling up of the substrate processing apparatus 1. Further, even when the transfer chamber row 31 does not have the relay chamber 33 between the adjacent transfer chambers 32, the substrate processing apparatus 1 can be scaled down in the apparatus width direction by employing the above-described configuration.
Further, in the present embodiment, the controller 60 is configured to control the driving mechanism 53 such that the center of the wafer W held by the transfer arm 52 of the transfer chamber 32 passes along the outer side of the line (e.g., the line L11 in the case of loading the wafer W from the transfer chamber 321 into the processing chamber 421) that connects the rotation axis of the transfer arm 52 and the center of the wafer supporting region 43a in the processing chamber 42 in the case of loading and unloading the wafer W between the processing chamber 42 and the transfer chamber 32 adjacent to the processing chamber 42. Therefore, even if the above-described configuration of the substrate processing apparatus 1 is employed to prevent the scaling up of the apparatus or to scale down the apparatus, the wafer W does not fall from the transfer arm 52 during the transfer operation.
In this transfer method, first, the controller 60 controls at least one of the rotation motor 53a and the extension/contraction motor 53b (see
Then, the controller 60 controls the rotation motor 53a and the extension/contraction motor 53b (see
In this transfer method, the wafer W loaded from the transfer chamber 321 into the processing chamber 421 is prevented from colliding with the gate valve G11 or the like and falling from the transfer arm 521.
In the transfer method described with reference to
Further, in the transfer method shown in
In the above embodiments, the insertion and extraction path of the transfer arm 52 into and from the processing chamber 42 is the same regardless of whether the transfer arm 52 is holding the wafer W or not. However, the transfer arm 52 may not collide with the gate valve or the like even when the transfer arm 52 that is not holding the wafer W is moved linearly from the start to the end of the insertion/extraction operation. In this case, the transfer arm 52 that is not holding the wafer W can be moved linearly during the insertion/extraction operation. Accordingly, the time required for inserting and extracting the transfer arm 52 that is not holding the wafer W can be reduced.
Although the film formation has been described above as an example, the present disclosure is not limited thereto and the technique of the present disclosure may be used for forming another processing such as etching or the like, in addition to the film formation.
The presently disclosed embodiments of the present disclosure are considered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive. The above-described embodiments can be embodied in various forms. Further, the above-described embodiments may be omitted, replaced, or changed in various forms without departing from the scope of the appended claims and the gist thereof.
The following configurations are also included in the technical scope of the present disclosure.
(1) A substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate includes: a transfer chamber row of a plurality of transfer chambers arranged linearly and maintained in a vacuum atmosphere, each of the transfer chambers having therein a substrate transfer mechanism configured to hold and transfer the substrate using a rotatable and extensible/contractible transfer arm; a processing chamber row of a plurality of processing chambers maintained in a vacuum atmosphere and arranged on one side or both sides of the transfer chamber row along the transfer chamber row in a plan view, each of the processing chambers having therein a substrate supporting region on which the substrate is placed; a driving mechanism configured to rotate, extend, and contract the transfer arm; and a controller. Further, for a processing chamber connected to two transfer chambers adjacent thereto through gate valves, a center of the substrate supporting region in the processing chamber is positioned closer to the transfer chamber row such that lines connecting the center of the substrate supporting region with rotation axes of transfer arms in the two transfer chambers adjacent to the processing chamber are closer to the transfer chamber row than lines respectively connecting the rotation axes of transfer arms in the two transfer chambers with centers of the gate valves with respect to the two transfer chambers, and the controller is configured to control, when loading and unloading the substrate between the processing chamber and each of the two transfer chambers adjacent to the processing chamber, the driving mechanism such that a center of the substrate held by the transfer arm of each of the two transfer chambers passes along an outer side of a line that connects the rotation axis of the transfer arm and the center of the substrate supporting region in the processing chamber.
In accordance with the configuration (1), the scaling up of the substrate processing apparatus can be prevented by suppressing the scaling up of the substrate processing apparatus in the apparatus width direction orthogonal to the direction that the transfer chambers are arranged even when the transfer chamber row has the function chamber between the adjacent transfer chambers. Further, the substrate processing apparatus can be scaled down in the apparatus width direction when the transfer chamber row does not have the functional chamber between the adjacent transfer chambers.
Further, in accordance with the configuration (1), the substrate held by the transfer arm of the transfer chamber can be prevented from colliding with the gate valve or the like and falling from the transfer arm during the loading/unloading of the substrate between the processing chamber and the transfer chamber adjacent to the processing chamber 42.
(2) In the substrate processing apparatus of the configuration (1), when the substrate is loaded from each of the two transfer chambers into the processing chamber adjacent to the two transfer chambers, the controller is configured to control the driving mechanism to initially transfer the substrate held by the transfer arm of the corresponding transfer chamber along the line that connects the rotation axis of the transfer arm and the center of the gate valve with respect to the corresponding transfer chamber until the substrate passes through the gate valve; then rotate the transfer arm; and thereafter transfer the substrate held by the transfer arm along the line that connects the rotation axis of the transfer arm and the center of the substrate supporting region in the processing chamber that is a transfer destination.
(3) In the substrate processing apparatus of the configuration (1), when the substrate is loaded from each of the two transfer chambers into the processing chamber adjacent to the two transfer chambers, the controller is configured to control the driving mechanism such that the substrate held by the transfer arm in the corresponding transfer chamber is transferred to a predetermined position in the corresponding transfer chamber, and then the transfer arm rotates and extends to transfer the substrate to the center of the substrate supporting region in the corresponding transfer chamber that is a transfer destination.
(4) In the substrate processing apparatus of any one of the configurations (1) to (3), the transfer chamber row has a functional chamber between adjacent transfer chambers.
(5) In the substrate processing apparatus of any one of the configurations (1) to (4), the transfer arm is a multi joint arm.
(6) In the substrate processing apparatus of any one of the configurations (1) to (5), the processing chambers of the processing chamber row are arranged in a zigzag shape with respect to the transfer chambers of the transfer chamber row.
(7) In a substrate transfer method for transferring a substrate in a substrate processing apparatus for processing the substrate, the substrate processing apparatus includes a transfer chamber row of a plurality of transfer chambers arranged linearly and maintained in a vacuum atmosphere, each of the transfer chambers having therein the substrate transfer mechanism configured to hold and transfer a substrate using a rotatable and extensible/contractible transfer arm; and a processing chamber row of a plurality of processing chambers maintained in a vacuum atmosphere and arranged on one side or both sides of the transfer chamber row along the transfer chamber row in a plan view, each of the processing chambers having therein a substrate supporting region on which the substrate is placed. The substrate transfer method includes, for a processing chamber connected to two transfer chambers adjacent to the processing chamber through gate valves, transferring the substrate such that when loading and unloading the substrate between the processing chamber and each of the two transfer chambers adjacent to the processing chamber, a center of the substrate held by the transfer arm of each of the two transfer chambers passes along an outer side of a line that connects a rotation axis of the transfer arm and a center of the substrate supporting region in the processing chamber.
(8) The substrate transfer method of the configuration (7) further includes loading the substrate from each of the two transfer chambers into the processing chamber adjacent to the two transfer chambers. The loading of the substrate includes initially transferring the substrate held by the transfer arm of the corresponding transfer chamber along the line that connects the rotation axis of the transfer arm and the center of the gate valve with respect to the corresponding transfer chamber until the substrate passes through the gate valve; then rotating the transfer arm; and thereafter transferring the substrate held by the transfer arm along the line that connects the rotation axis of the transfer arm and the center of the substrate supporting region in the processing chamber that is a transfer destination.
(9) The substrate transfer method of the configuration (7) further includes loading the substrate from each of the two transfer chambers into the processing chamber adjacent to the two transfer chamber. The loading of the substrate includes linearly transferring the substrate held by the transfer arm of the corresponding transfer chamber to a predestined position in the corresponding transfer chamber; and then rotating and extending the transfer arm to transfer the substrate to the center of the substrate supporting region in the processing chamber that is a transfer destination.
While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosures. Indeed, the embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms. Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made departing from the spirit of the disclosures. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the disclosures.
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